Fight For Tomorrow Preview
by AxlMaster
Summary: The Fourth Shinobi War is over. Madara and the Ten Tails are gone, & the nations can begin building for the future. Naruto and Sakura have fallen for each other, & look forward to happy lives with each other. But there's one great threat left, and its Naruto's terrible privilege to confront it. THIS IS A PREVIEW FOR THE FULL STORY. NxS. Inspired by Evanescence "Bring Me To Life."


_Authors Note: I am a Naruto x Sakura fan. That should be clear to anyone who's read my stuff, but I feel it needs saying for the future. Of all the Naruto pairings, I've always liked Naruto and Sakura the most. The pairing makes a lot of sense in canon considering their history together, and they're just so adorable in so many stories I've read._

Special mention goes to Catsi563's "In Your Eyes."

That said, I do like a lot of other pairings. Naruto and Hinata are also ridiculously cute together. While Naruto and Sakura are my favorite pairing, I'm always open to other pairings. Honestly if you like Sasuke and Hinata, that's perfectly cool. Like your pairings!

Hope you enjoy this preview from my latest short story, which is 75% done at time of writing. I am using the versions of my characters from "Shinobi of Fire, Wind, & Ice," which is why Naruto has his weapon Namikaze and some of his more...Unique abilities. Hehe.

Ask any questions you want, tell me why you like your pairings if you want. As always, Rate and review. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Enjoy!

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><p>It was odd how much could change in a year or two.<p>

How nations would grow and recede. How much a naive young chunin could become a force to be reckoned with. How wars would start and end so suddenly, and especially how quickly peace would be established. Indeed the shinobi world of today would hardly be recognized by previous generations.

The only part they would recognize would have been the Fourth Great Shinobi War, and even then it would be a jarring sight. In the time of Madara and Hashirama, wars would endure for countless generations, not begin and end in two days. In their day it was an endless blood feud between clans, brutal fighting in a brutal and fractured world. But in this age, the war was fought by all nations, not against each other, but beside each other. The entire world uniting against a common threat, piling together their resources and shinobi to see their world continue. The sight would certainly be jarring.

Naruto chuckled at the image of old-geezers standing open-mouthed at the thought of joining forces. Despite his current...Uphill route, he felt no small amount of mirth thinking of how his world had gone such an amazing metamorphosis from a divided if relatively stable collection of nations to a unified world of peace and prosperity. But then again, no metamorphosis was without its difficulties or share of ugliness, and the world needed to experience a true calamity before it rose above the ashes.

That thought caused Naruto's quiet smile to fade, but he continued his steep climb while the experience of the war flashed in his mind. So much had changed because of the events of two short days.

The war itself had been a nightmare from start to finish, an ordeal that would certainly be remembered for all of time. From the army of bizarre plant men called Zetsus to the reanimated corpses being forced to fight their former brethren, to even seeing all the tailed beasts fighting, it was an earth-shaking horror unlike any seen before. But it only grew worse when the enemy of all shinobi, Madara Uchiha was resurrected. The bane of life, the walking nightmare had returned, and he sought what so many others wanted; power. The power to control all, to rule supreme over a world of his making.

To that end he had summoned the king of monsters, the Ten Tailed Beast. A creature that possessed power that surpassed Madara and Hashirama combined a thousand fold. An eldritch abomination that had until that day existed only in myth.

Madara's plans were briefly foiled when Obito somehow managed to absorb the creature and fought against the Allied Shinobi Forces. But the efforts of Sasuke and Naruto had weakened him to the point where the ten-tails burst out of him like a fountain of supernatural horror. With Ten-Tails out in the open again, Madara sealed the beast within him as its nigh-unstoppable jinchuuriki, more powerful and devastating than Obito ever was. Naruto and Sasuke's combined strength didn't even slow him down. Nothing could stop him, nothing. His skill with the powers granted by the beast elevated him to a god, and in the face of such power it seemed as if the shinobi world would fall. Darkness would reign supreme with Madara as its king.

But if there was one thing the world had learned from the war, it was that even in the darkest hours, one could find light and hope to keep moving forward, and that hope had been in the form of Naruto Uzumaki, the number one knuckleheaded shinobi, whom had never stood down in the face of danger. Despite being battered and worn out, he somehow gathered the strength to go up against Madara, matching him blow for blow, a feat that was virtually impossible but somehow proved possible in his hands. Whether it was the grace of god or his own ridiculously thick head, he pushed harder and fought fiercer than he ever had before in his life, fueled by some unbreakable resolve.

With the chakra granted to him by the other tailed beasts, and a timely intervention by a half-dead Obito, Madara's bond with the Ten-Tails was disrupted, which proved as enough of a distraction for Minato Namikaze to seal the other half of the Nine-Tailed Fox within his son. With the full power of the fox, Naruto unleashed an assault on the unfocused Madara, whom couldn't even coordinate given the mindless nature of the Ten-Tails screaming in his mind. Obito himself fought with all his remaining strength to further twist and bend the connection, using a small amount of the Juubi's chakra he had clung to even as the creature burst from his body. By the time Madara regained his bearings, it was already too late.

Naruto had focused all his power into one jutsu. A massive golden and fiery Rasengan fueled by the Kyuubi, Sage Mode Chakra, and Naruto's own nature transformations. Then with one final effort, Naruto obliterated Madara and the tailed beast within him in a cataclysmic energy blast that left the entire world in awe, reeling from the sheer power the shinobi wielded. When the dust settled, the war was over. All the fighting and bloodshed had ended, and the people of the shinobi world would live to see tomorrow.

There had been other changes since then. A public reveal of the circumstances behind the Uchiha revolt and the Nine-Tails attack on Konoha, a restructuring of how shinobi would be trained after so many had been lost in the war. The distinct lack of Tailed Beasts roaming the countryside after Madara's destruction was more than a little unusual. But given how the creatures always reincarnated, it was likely they would return soon, thankfully far more peaceful after meeting Naruto in the war.

A change that shocked the entire village was Fifth Hokage Tsunade's decision to adopt a son, namely Naruto himself. Even Sakura, the one who knew Tsunade better than anyone was shocked. After all the only motherly instinct the Hokage had displayed was a spectacular track record at "discipline," her own form of tough love. But when one got past the thick layers of crabby behavior, she was a loving woman, and one he had gotten to know very well since first meeting her. With a nearly bone-cracking embrace, she welcomed him as her son.

So now Naruto had a mom..

He still had a hard time processing that. Sakura even moreso. Naruto smiled faintly as he remembered her ridiculous overreaction to the news. She actually fainted because she had...Trouble processing her wise yet cranky mentor as a mom. Naruto didn't blame her one bit.

But the most shocking change, one that may have surpassed even the return of the Ten-Tails, was the peace that came after the war had ended. While the shinobi villages and nations still were separate, the animosity and intense divide between them had all but disappeared. Where there were once tense truces, there were now joyful welcoming of brothers-in-arms, of friendship forged in the fires of war. It was decided that the Allied Shinobi Forces would work in tandem to rebuild the damage and loss done by the Akatsuki and Madara, building a brighter tomorrow. The shinobi world was moving forward with a speed and optimism that had never been seen before.

But Naruto didn't smile at that thought. After all, he still had work to do.

While the progress that had been made was nothing short of stunning and amazing, and he looked forward to perhaps leading the village of Konoha in this new age, he couldn't focus on that. No, for while he was joyful at the end of the war, there was still one last enemy to confront. An individual who had escaped the war without being caught. One final adversary that if left unchecked could destroy the peace they had all fought for. Naruto grimaced, gripping onto a slippery rock to lift himself up. His circumstances in coming so far from the village weren't pleasant. He didn't want to be out here in the pouring rain.

There was someone else who didn't want him going out on a dangerous mission either...

_ "Naruto, you don't have to do this."_

_ "I know." Headband and shoes were secure._

_ "Orochimaru and Madara are dead. The Ten-Tails is gone. The War's over. He's got nothing left. No allies or army, nothing."_

_ "I know." Gloves were tight, utility belt was good._

_ "If he doesn't get picked off by ANBU, then another nation will find and execute him eventually."_

_ "I know." Namikaze was sharp, and his scrolls were packed._

_ "He's still a threat, but he's not stupid enough to attack Konoha with you and me here."_

_ "I know." Everything was ready. He was ready. Satisfied and prepared for the coming battle, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and-_

_ "Naruto, what are you looking for?"_

_ He stopped._

The rain fell like mad. It hammered down on the forest, on the cliffside, and of course of Naruto, a mere speck of existence, an ant in the face of this torrential downpour. He loathed it to his core. It had been falling since he'd left the village, and it showed no signs of stopping for anyone or anything. Least of all a single shinobi, who was making a difficult climb despite the storm.

Naruto grunted as his hand gripped on the edge of a cliff, hanging limply with a fragile hold over a dizzying height. His other hand slammed into the rock face, and with an uneasy foothold he leaped up ten feet. He quickly grabbed a particularly large piece of stone before gravity took hold, planted his feet on a particularly large root took a moment to catch his breath. This climb would be a lot easier if there wasn't a storm overhead. Even with his hood, up this weather was proving detrimental to his progress. The rain splashed against his face, disturbing his eyesight to where he averted his gaze. Looking down he saw the thick forest he had trekked through surrounding the gigantic building.

The downpour had been raging since he arrived, and it made the ascent all the more difficult. The rocks were horribly slippery now, and the dirt was gradually turning into mud that wet his gloves which only made it even more challenging. Naruto thought back to Kakashi-sensei scaling mountains with one hand tied behind his back. As a kid he thought the exercise was ridiculous, insane even. Now that he was scaling a straight drop with the worst weather possible spattering his face, he would say anything to satisfy whatever bitter god had sent these dark clouds. He would happily tout the absolute genius of Jiraiya's perverted Icha Icha books from the heavens if it would get this damn rain to stop.

_ "Focus. Come on. You can't stop now."_ He thought, shaking off his mental ramblings.

Swallowing his frustration, Naruto dug his fingers deep into the caked soil around the rock, and likewise brought his feet up, resting them on a bit of rubble sticking out of the cliff. The grip wasn't perfect, but it would have to do. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he looked up. A few more jumps and he'd reach the top of this accursed building. Slowly he closed his eyes, took one deep breath to focus and quiet his mind. There was only the mission, and he had to complete it. It was that simple, and completing it began with finishing this climb. With force strong enough to dislodge the deeply embedded rocks, Naruto shot through the air.

Naruto soared up the cliff like an eagle, knocking out the dirt and rocks from where he jumped. With agile skill he hopped from rock to rubble to indents in what had to be the remains of a massive wall. In one final leap Naruto soared up and over the top, rocketing through the air to gain a clear view of the wrecked and crumbling structure around him.

The rubble was scattered everywhere, a sign of a battle. The dome roof was collapsed in several places, and the interior of the building was definitely showing its age. The only remaining structures were two large square towers on opposite ends of the building, so tall they towered over Naruto even as he reached the top of his arc. Naruto fell back down, not bothering to worry about injury. His hood and black coat flapped out like tails as he streaked straight down to the roof faster than the rain itself from the heavens. His feet landed with a small but harsh impact, joined quickly by his fist slamming down into the concrete, racking and splintering the ground where he landed. He made it.

He didn't scan the area for enemies. He didn't need to. He'd scanned the entire complex with his Kurama-enhanced senses as he scaled the cliff. There was only one person here, who didn't want to hide. Why should he? He and Naruto were both expecting this, and had been since the war ended.

"Naruto," An all-too familiar voice spoke "it's about time you arrived."

Naruto's fist tightened as he slowly rose from his crouch. His head was angled down with arms at his side, ready for any sudden moves from his host, who seemed nonchalant about this sudden meeting. With an icy gaze Naruto pulled off his hood to glare back at the only other living creature within five miles of the ruined building. Ever since the battle between two brothers, all the wildlife had fled this building and the nearby forest from the magnitude of that fight. All the insects, birds and deer were utterly gone. Naruto still remembered seeing the devastation brought from that battle. The blood, the sick chakra in the air, the grim and rotten tang that hung over the entire building; but most of all, the evil, monstrous flames that lingered for days, burning everything in their path. Those abominable black flames.

Even with the blood dried and flames gone, Naruto could feel the dark aura emanating from this place that was centered around the sole resident. Above him was their proud symbol: a large red war fan. Beneath it the man sat on a chair carved out of the stone that once comprised his clan's hideout. Naruto's former teammate and friend. A man he once called his brother, whom he'd gladly lay down his life to protect, whom he promised to bring back to their home no matter how many bones he had to break. Who'd been the cause of such pain in this world to so many innocent people, who now were calling him "The second Madara."

Now he was just his target, an objective. Another mission he had to complete.

"You're not exactly easy to find Sasuke."

_ "Naruto, what are you looking for?"_

_ He stopped, Sakura's question ringing in his ears._

_ "I just feel...Heavy." _

_ "What do you mean?"_

_ "I feel this burden on me. That's it." He averted his gaze with a troubled grimace, but she quickly walked up to him with a faintly commanding and nurse-like tone._

_ "Hey, come on now baka. Do not shut me out." She spoke sternly, though she softened at seeing him so troubled, and spoke quietly._

_ "Talk to me. Please." Her eyes pierced into his soul. _

_ He sighed, unable to hold up under her emerald orbs. _

_ "There's a weight on my shoulders Sakura. I need to remove it. I need to remove...Him."_

_ "But he's not coming back-" _

_ Then he snapped, barely containing his anger and fear._

_ "We don't know that! We can't know for sure that he won't go on the warpath, again! I am not risking anyone's safety over Sasuke suddenly becoming complacent! Least of all yours Sakura!"_

_ "Naruto.." Sakura muttered, surprised by his burst. He sighed, apologetic. _

_ "I'm sorry Sakura. I don't mean to get angry at you. I just...I have to do this," _

_ He stroked her pink hair._

_ "I'm not happy about choosing to do this Sakura, I wish he could just disappear forever, leave the rest of the world and us get on with our lives. But I know he won't."_

_ She looked deep in his eyes with a question burning in her mind._

_ "Do you hate yourself for choosing to do this?" she asked_

_ Naruto paused._

_ "No."_


End file.
